YOU  MUST  LABOR  FOR  SALVATION. 


BY  REV.  DAVID  SHAVER,  RICHMOND,  VA; 


Human  Ifcfe  is  a  pilgrimage.  We  are  all  travellers  to 
eternity.  Not  one  of  us  but  must  depart  from  this  world, 
and  go  out  into  a  world  to  come.  Every  day  and  every 
night  bears  us  onward — still  onward — hence — thither! 
But  all  are  not  passing  over  the  same  road ;  all  are  not 
journeying  to  the  same  place.  There  is  abroad  thorough- 
fare to  hell,  and  the  overwhelming  majority  of  men  throng 
that.  Only  asmall  minority — one  here,  and  there  another — ■ 
toils  along  the  narrow  ascent  to  heaven.  This  is  not  the 
teaching  of  ^Pesumptuous  ignorance  on  the  part  of  the 
enthusiast,  or  of  austere  rigor  on  the  part  of  the  bigot. 
Our  Saviour  himself  declares  it :  "Wide  is  the  gate  and 
broad  is  the  way  that  leadeth  to 'destruction,  and  many 
there  be  which  go  in  thereat :  Because  strait  is  the  gate 
and  narrow  is  the  way  which  leadeth  unto .  life,  and  few 
there  be  which  find  it."     (Matt.  7;  13,  14.) 

The  most  important  of  all  questions,  therefore,  for  every 
one  of  us,  is,  How  may  we  join  ourselves  to  "  the  little 
flock "  that  finds  and  follows  the  way  of  life  ?  It  is  the 
obvious  dictate  of  reason,  that  we  must  form  earnest  pur- 


poses  and  make  strenuous  efforts  to  gain  the  path  that 
leads  to  the  peace  and  the  presence  of  Q-od ;  that  multi- 
tudes fail  in  this  endeavor  because  their  purposes  are  in- 
constant or  theirefforts  inefficient;  that  mere  seeking  will 
not  suffice  here — there  must  be  striving.  But  we  have 
not  been  left  to  gather  this  truth  from  uncertain  reason- 
ings of  our  own.  It,  also,  has  come  to  us  from  the  lips  of 
our  Saviour:  "Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate;  for 
many,  I  say  unto  you,  will  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not 
be  able."     (Luke  13;  24.) 

In  these  passages  of  Scripture,  then,  we  have  the  plain 
but  most  momentous  doctrine,  that  those  who  wish  to  secure 
the  salvation  of  the  soul  must  he  earnest,  resolute,  laborious. 
Will  you  suffer  your  thoughts  to  dwell  on  it  ?      * 

I.  Those  who  wish  to  secure  the  salvation  of  the  soul ! 
And  who  are  they  ?  Perhaps  all  who  read- these  lines  who 
are  yet  out  of  Christ,  Few,  indeed,  are  the  persons  who 
grow  so  callous  and  reprobate,  so  insane  in  spiritual  things, 
as  deliberately  and  utterly  to  renounce  all  desire  of  eternal 
life. 

A  Christian  minister,  once,  during  the  progress  of  a 
revival,  went  to  an  unconverted  man  who  sat  indifferent 
in  the.  congregation,  and  asked,  "  My  friend — dw  you  not 
wish  to  go  to  heaven  when  you  die  ?  "  That  unconverted 
man,  who  was  not  so  much  as  lifting  his  little  finger  to 
reach  the  kingdom  of  glory,  who  gave  not  the  slightest 
heed  to  the  truth,  who  evinced  not  a  shadow  of  feeling 
under  the  out-pouring  of  the  Spirit — that  unconverted  man 
replied,  "  Sir,  do  you  think  I  am  a  fool  V  and  left  the 
house,  indignant  that  he  should  be  accounted  so  stupid 
and  so  blind  as  not  to  wish  for  a  home  in  heaven,  when 
earth  could  provide  him  a  home  no  longer. 

We  do  not  think  that  our  impenitent  readers  are  fools, 
in  the  sense  of  this  question  and  reply.     No  :  not  one  of 


them.  With  some  vague  and  fluctuating,  half-nursed, 
half-smothered  feeling,  they  wish  to  secure  the  salvation 
of  their  souls — they  know  not  how — they  decide  not  when. 
Now,  be  it  borne  in  mind  by  them,  that  this  wish  will 
serve  no  good  purpose — will  deceive,  betray,  destroy  them, 
if  they  are  not  earnest,  resolute,  laborious  about  the  mat- 
ter. All  Scripture  says  so.  "  Ye  shall  seek  me  and  find 
me,  when  ye  shall  search  for  me  with  all  your  heart." 
(Jer.  29;  13.)  "  Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunger  and 
thirst  after  righteousness  :  for  they  shall  be  filled."  (Matt. 
5;  6.)  " Let  us  labor,  therefore,  to  enter  into  that  rest, 
lest  any  man  fall  after  the  same  example  of  unbelief." 
(Heb.  4;  11.)  "  Worh  old  your  bwn  salvation  with  fear 
and  trembling ;  for  it  is  God  that  worketh  in  you  to  will 
and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure."  (Phil.  2;  13.)  These 
passages,  with  a  thousand  others,  utter  in  our  ears  the 
warning— "all  our  heart,  and  all  our  soul,  and  all  our 
mind,  and  all  our  strength,  *'  must  be  concentrated  on  the 
great  work  of  salvation. 

This  doctrine,  we  know,  is  an  unwelcome  one.  Man 
loves  to  have  salvation  made  easy.  With  as  little  trouble 
and  as  little  toil  as  possible  would  he  obtain  God's  favor 
and  clothe  himself  with  Christ's  righteousness.  His  ear 
is  reluctant  to  hear,  his  heart  fB  heed,  the  voice  which 
cries,  "Give  diligence  to  make  your  calling  and  election 
sure."  The  decision  and  energy,  the  bending  of  the  inner 
man  with  all  its  might;  the  waking  and  the  working  and 
the  warring,  necessary  to  a  genuine  Christian  experience, 
are  pared  down,  and  frittered  away,  until  men  hope  to  be 
"  carried  to  the  skies  on  flowery  beds  of  ease." 

Who  can  doubt  this,  when  he  hears  a  Roman  Catholic 
bishop  say,  that  his  "church  would  not  desire  more  than 
two  hours  to  prepare  any  man  for  death  ?  " 

Who  can  doubt  it?  when  he  learns  that  a  distinguished 


Protestant  divine  preachod  a  sermon,  to  prove  that  it  re- 
quires no  more  time  to  fit  a  man  for  heaven,  than  is  ne» 
cessary  for  these  two  propositions  to  pass  through  his 
mind, — I  have  sinned, — Christ  died  for  sinners  ? 

Oh,  most  fatal  delusion,  persuading  our  natural  sloth- 
fulness  in  spiritual  matters,'  that  we  can  enter  in  at  the 
strait  gate  without  striving,  without  ,even  seeking,  in  any 
reasonable  sense  of  the  terms  !  And  it  is  in  this  way  that 
man  would  fain  enter.  This  is  the  rock  on  which  thou- 
sands, who  hope  to  gain  the  eternal  haven,  split  and  go 
down  in  the  waters  of  an  overwhelming  wrath.  Dear 
reader  take  better  counsel.  Only  the  earnest,  resolute, 
laborious,  have  a  guarantee  of  salvation;  only  those  who 
search  for  the  Lord  with  all  their  heart — who  hunger  and 
thirst  after  righteousness — who  labor  to  enter  into  that 
rest — who  work  out  their  own  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling.  In  all  the  word  of  God,  from  first  to  last, 
there  is  not  one  syllable  of  promise  to  any  other  soul  of 
man.  No  ray  of  hope  shines  out  from  the  inspired  pages 
but  for  the  strioer  alone.  Even  the  seeker,  inconstant, 
inefficient,  fails,  and  for  him  no  place  is  prepared  in  the 
bosom  of  divine  love. 

II.  What  we  have  said  will  suffice,  with  the  thoughtful 
reader,  to  show  the  importance  of  this  doctrine.  We 
pass  now  to  enquire,  Why  4.B  it  necessary  that  we  be 
earnest,  resolute,  laborious,  to  secure  the  salvation  of  the 
soul  ?  Why  is  it  that  we  cannot  enter  the  Strait  Gate, 
except  we  strive  to  effect  an  entrance  ? 

(1.)  It  is  not  because  man  is  required  to  be  his  own 
saviour,  and,  by  a  wisdom  and  a  strength  which  are  his, 
to  accomplish  the  work  that  makes  him  a  child  and  an  heir 
of  God.  Far  otherwise.  "  Hethatsitteth  in  the  heavens" 
instruots  us  to  style  Him  "  our  Saviour."  (Tit.  3 ;  4.) 
"According   to  His  merey,    Be  savas  us."     (Tit.  Z;  6.) 


n  His  head  alone  must  the  crown  of  salvation  be  put. 
He  will  suffer  His  oreatures  to  wear  it,  no,  not  for  a  mo- 
ment. 

But  it  is  because  man  wishes  to  take  this  crown  from 
God's  head,  and  place  it  upon  his  own.  Because  by  nature 
we  are  ambitious  to  save  ourselves;  to  give  the  credit  of 
our  salvation  to  our  strength  and  our  wisdom.  Because 
it  requires  a  sore  struggle  to  suddue  this  proud  disposi- 
tion, which  has  many  lives,  which  comes  forth  often  from 
the  grave  we  put  it  in  as  dead,  and  needs  to  be  often  slain. 
Because  none  but  an  earnest  spirit  will  hew  down  this  tree 
of  carnal  independence,  and  pluck  it  up,  and  cast  it  utterly 
into  the  fire,  sparing  not  one  fibre  of  its  roots — not  even 
one  twig  of  its  branches.  Because  it  is  a  hard  and  difficult 
thing  for  self-exalting  man  sincerely  to  say,  "  Not  unto  us, 
0  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name  give  glory."  (Psa. 
115;  1.)  < 

(2.)  It  is  not  because  God  entertains  a  personal,  acrimoni- 
ous hostility  towards  sinners,  and  is  inclined  t©  withhold 
salvation  from  them,  and  stands  aloof  until  something-be 
done  to  inspire  Him  with  a  disposition  to  accept  them. 
Indeed  it  is  not.  "  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of 
him  that  dieth,  saith  the  Lord."  (Ez.  18;  32.)  "God 
is  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself,  not  im- 
puting their  trespasses  unto  them."  (2  Cor.  5;  19.) 
"  The  Lord  is  long-suffering  to  usward,  not  willing  that  any 
should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to  repentance." 
(2  Pet.  3 ;  9.) 

But  it  is  because  unbelief,  reigning  in  the  heart,  denies 
or  distrusts  the  readiness  of  God  to  accept  us  in  the 
Beloved.  Because  unbelief  credks  the  father  of  lies, 
when  he  slanderously  represents  the  Most  High  as  a  cruel 
tyrant,  reluctant  to  pardon  the  rebellious.  Because  un- 
belief persuades  us  that  there  is  a  sternness  and  enmity  in 


6 

tlio  bo»om  of  fche  Lord,  which  oallji  for  softening  otffeax 
behalf.  Because  unbelief  fosters  the  impression  that^ms, 
distresses,  agonies,  are  demanded  in  order  to  move  our 
Father  in  heaven  to  a  pity  -which  He  does  not  feel  with- 
out them.  Because  man  clings  to  this  unbelief;  and  will 
not  break  through  its  barriers  to  a  Saviour's  open  arms; 
and  puts  his  hand  into  its  hand  to  be  led  away  from  the 
cross  ;  and  refuses  to  tear  aside  the  veil  it  throws  over  his 
eyes,  and  see  how  swift  our  offendod  Judge  is  to  run  to 
meet  the  returning  prodigal  while  yet  a  great  way  off. 

(3.)  It  is  not  because  the  salvation  which  is  God's  gift — 
a  gift  bestowed  with  utmost  willingness — nevertheless  re- 
quires some  fitness  on  our  part  to  go  before  it;  some  pre- 
vious good  works  to  make  us  worthy  of  it ;  some  excellencies 
of  character  and  life  to  purchase  or  at  least  procure  it.  By 
no  means.  "Not  by  works  of  righteousness  which  we 
have  done,  but  according  to  His  mercy  He  saved  us,  by  the 
washing  of  regeneration  and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
(Tit.  3;  5.)  "By  deeds  of  the  law  there  shall  no  flesh  be 
justified.in  His  sight.  But  to  him  who  worketh  not" — 
that  is,  to  merit  justification  by  deeds  of  the  law — to  him 
who  in  this  sense  worketh  not,  "butbelieveth  on  Him  who 
justifieth  the  ungodly,  his  faith  is  counted  for  righteous- 
ness."    (Ro.  3;  20,  4;  5.) 

But  it  is  because  God  who  saves  us,  does  not  save  us 
without  ourselves.  Because  He  does  not  make  us  His,  as 
He  might  raise  up  children  to  Abraham  out  of  stones, 
with  no  consent  or  co-operation  of  our  own.  Because, 
when  He  works  in  us,  He  works,  not  to  dispense  with  our 
willing  and  our  doing,  but  works  that  we  ourselves  may 
will,  that  we  ourselves  may  do.  Because  He  lays  hold  of 
all  the  powers  of  o£&  nature  which  have  been  active  to 
perform  evil  in  His  sight,  and  demands  that  these  very 
powers,  every  one  of  them,   should  with   equal  activity 


employ  themselves  to  seek  Him  and  to  serve  Him,  with- 
out accounting  it  meritorious  in  them  to  do  so;  without 
forgetting  that  enough  of  imperfection  mars  this  labor, 
enough  of  sin  denies  it,  to  show  that  even  by  it  the  law  is 
broken — that  a  washing  in  Christ's  blood  is  indispensable 
even  for  it. 

Take  now  the  truth,  partly  implied,  partly  expressed, 
in  these  last  remarks.  In  saving  us,  God  brings  into  ex- 
ercise our  liberty  of  will  and  our  capacity  for  action.  He 
finds  us  asleep,  and  does  not  lift  us  in  His  arms  and  carry 
us,  still  sleeping,  within  the  gate  of  life.  But  He  arouses 
us  from  our  slumber,  and  calls  us  to  arise,  and  moves  us 
to  walk  and  to  run  along  the  right  way  until  toe  enter  into 
that  gate.  Now,  in  thus  laboring  for  our  salvation,  what 
are  the  hindrances  which  we  must  surmount  ?  Are  these 
hindrances  so  great  that  only  an  earnest,  resolute,  labori- 
ous spirit  will  force  a  passage  through  ?     Lelf  us  see. 

(1.)  There  is  an  evil  nature  which  must  be  changed. 
Sin  reigns  not  only  over  the  life,  but  in  the  soul.  The 
heart,  the  very  heart  itself,  is  wrong;  like  the  waters  of 
Marah,  bitter  and  unwholesome — needing  that  the  tree  of 
life  should  be  cast  into  the  waters  to  make  them  sweet. 
Appetence,  affection,  passion,  must  be  renewed;  must  have 
the  tendrils  which  creep  along  the  earth,  and  fasten  them- 
selves to  it,  unloosed  and  raised  aloft,  and  entwined  around 
the  things  of  G-od,  that  they  may  grow  upward.  Grod's 
power,  indeed,  effects  this  transformation  of  nature:  but 
we  must  be  willing,  anxious — freely  choosing  it,  earnestly 
desiring  it,  diligently  seeking  it.  Can  we,  with  facility, 
bring  ourselves  to  this  frame  of  mind?  Oh,  hard,  hard 
task  for  the  proud  human  heart!  "It  is  easier  to  set  a 
man  against  all  the  world  than  against  himself;  and  yet  a 
man  must  be  set  against  himself,  in  order  to  his  conversion. " 

(2.)  There  are  evil  habits  which  must  be  broken  off. 


Every  wrong  feeling  of  our  nature  inclines  us  to  do  evil  in 
the"  sight  of  Gk>d;  to  repeat  to-day  the  evil  we  did  yester- 
day— and  to-morrow  the  evil  we  are  doing  to-day.  Ahj 
the  waters  are  not  only  bitter;  they  are  flowing-— flowing 
downward — widening  their  channels — becoming  more  and 
yet  more  xapid  in  their  descent.  Now,  if  we  would  save 
our  souls,  against  this  deepening  and  accelerating  current 
must  we  swim  :  the  curreht  itself  must  be  turned  back;  old 
habits  destroyed, — new  and  better  habits  formed.  The 
way  of  wickedness  familiar  to  our  feet  must  be  forsaken ; 
and  over  no  part  of  that  long-trodden  path  must  they  be 
allowed  to  wander  again.  What  we  have  beenaccustomed 
to  do,  must  be  done  no  longer.  What  we  have  been  ac- 
customed to  omit,  must  be  omitted  no  longer.  But,  habit — 
strong  habit — mighty  habit — we  had  almost  said  omni- 
potent habit, — who  does- not  know  that  the  utmost  force  of 
character  barely  suffices  to  overcome  it?  Who  does  not 
know  that  for  its  conquest,  the  mind's  steadiest,  staunchest, 
stablest  inflexibility  must  come  into  operation  ? 

(3.)  There  are  evil  maxims,  or  rules  of  conduct,  which 
must  be  renounced.  If  repentance  and  faith  have  their 
codes,  so  also  have  unbelief  and  impenitence.  These  strive 
to  be  a  law  unto  themselves.  How  many  are  the  false 
principles  which  they  set  up  here  and  there  along  our 
course  through  life,  as  way-marks  to  guide  the  feet,  but 
wofully  misguiding  them  !  At  times,  sinners  think  that 
religion  suits  well  the  old,  but  that  young  persons  should 
see  and  enjoy  much  of  the  world  before  they  renounce 
worldly  pleasure.  At  times  they  think  that  they  must 
lie  supine  in  spiritual  matters,  like  lifeless  clods,  until  a 
mighty  down-coming  of  grace  irresistibly  sweeps  them  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  At  times,  they  think  that-  a 
more  convenient  season  is  prepared  for  them,  somewhere 
in  the  future,  when  no  difficulties  shall  defeat  or  dispute 


9 

their  return  to  the  Lore!.  At  times,  they  think  that  mere 
moral  reformation,  and  cold  and  formal  devotions,  will  put 
them  into  the  Saviour's  bosom,  and  fold  His  arms  about 
them  lovingly  and  tenderly.  But  who  can  number  all  the 
forms  which  sin's  excuses  for  its  sinfulness  may  wear? 
"Who  shall  say  into  how  many  refuges  of  lies  the  heart  of 
unbelief  runs,  to  hide  itself  from  the  searching  light  of 
truth.  "  Their  name  is  legion."  They  are  plausible, 
too — plausible  in  the  eyes  of  the  evil  nature  to  which  they 
appeal — plausible  through  the  power  of  the  evil  habits 
with  which  they  accord.  A  deceived  heart  loves  them 
well;  and  catches  the  hand  that  would  pluck  their  mask 
away;  and  will  not  let  their  hollowness  stand  exposed ;  and, 
if  the  mask  be,  now  and  then,  disturbed,  carefully  adjusts 
it  again,  that  the  deception  may  'go  bravely  on.'  How 
hardly,  then,  shall  the  bosom  be  purged  of  their  leaven ! 

(4.)  There  are  evil  examples  which  must  be  resisted. 
The  allusion  is  not  simply  to  habits  of  gross  vice.  All 
examples  are  evil  which  involve  delayed  repentance  and 
faith  postponed ;  all  are  evil  which  encourage  this  post- 
ponement of  faith  this  delay  of  repentance.  Evil,  because 
if  the  soul  treads  in  their  steps,  they  shall  lead  it  down  to 
the  pit;  because  they  have  led  it  almost  thither  at  this 
present.  And  such  examples  are  around  us  everywhere. 
They  are  in  the  community — in  scenes  of  business — in 
places  of  amusement — in  the  circle  of  friendship — in  the 
household.  They  are  associated  with  the  dignity  of  age 
and  the  charm  of  youth  ;  with  beauty's  smile  and  talent's 
spell ;  with  wealth,  and  influence,  and  official  station ;  with 
education,  morality,  refinement,  high  regard,  deep  love. 
They  speak  the  same  language,  they  impel  to  the  same 
course,  with  the  evil  nature  we  inherit — and  the  evil 
habits  we  indulge — and  the  evil  maxims  we  embrace. 
Surely,  then,  if  we  bestir  not  ourselves,  they  will  carry  us 


10 


away  m  with  a  flood—as  the  tempestuous  gale  .weena  the 
unresisting  bird  along  its  track-  g  P       6 

th!sthC^'hVd?n?S  ^  °PP°Se  our  e»tran<*  «to 
Evil  p«™  •  Evil  nature!  Evil  habits!  Evil  maxims! 
Eul  examples!    Four  strong  and  massive  chains    riveted 

S Xuh  :1lt°t,  ht strenuous must *'• 2S; 

™J  bl*elk    l0°Se!     How   ^olutely    without 

anv  o  Lr  ^SlnDer:  Wh9  att6mptS  the  work  of  station  in 
itl  ttV  ?  f  ?est:  reS0lute^ iaborious  spirit !  Ob, 
it  is  for  the  want  of  this  spirit  that  thousands  who  are 
brought  nigh  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  go  away  backward 
and  never  set  foot  in  it.  Halyburton,  in  tj  course "of 
nhTsLT  a8C,ei"tai^d  that  °Ut  0f  f0-  hundred  persons 
not  corfer^  r;thereWere  onIyab°»t  forty  who  would 
not  confess,  that,  at  some  time  or  other,    they   had   been 

thre!  I  T  7*??*  ^  the  WOrd"  And  ^  did  the" 
5  ?hu±ed  and  91f  7  PersoQs  relapse  into  carnal  slumber 
Saved  \ &  WT  ^?  COnvictions  clenched,  their  souls 
S  Tl,  Skked.aD  earnest-  resolute'  Morions 
Tl  :,?  -dld  •noTt  Stnye  t0  enter  in  a*  the  Strait  Gate. 
X  es  .  not  strivmg  is  the  icay  to  death  and  hell     Turn  from 

tt- e^reat  y°U;  dear  reader>  0Q  the  instant, 
init'o  +°af  °5  refrain  from  affectionately  urging  you 
J  f  i X  I Stand  ^  y°ur  ?uard  a£ainst  the  great  tempta- 
tion which  Satan  will  seek  to  draw  from  this  doctrine.  If 
ne  can  he  will  incline  you  to  say  that  as  it  is  so  difficult 
to  work  out  your  own  salvation  now.  you  will  put  off  the 
bard  and  irksome  task.  Oh,  hear  him  not.  Delay  can 
on  y  aggravate  the  difficulties  of  the  case.  An  evil  nature 
will  .reign  m  your  bosom  with  but  a  more  tyrannous  and 
irresistible  sway  because  that  sway  has  been  longer  con- 
firmed. Lodhalin  will  wax  stronger  and  stronger  throu-h 
indulgence.  It  has  been  said  that  «  habits  are  like  croco- 
diles ;  as  long  as  they  live,  they  grow."     You  will  find  the     ' 


li 

•aying  true.  And  you  will  find  how  true  is  that  other 
saying  :  "an  eyil  habit  is  a  hook  in  the  soul,  and  draws  it 
whithersoever  the  devil  pleases."  Evil  maxims,  too,  will 
more  thoroughly  imbue  the  mind  ;  and  diffuse  their  leaven 
through  all  processes  of  thought;  and  take,  increasingly, 
the  color  of  undisputed  truths  ;  and  stand  like  unremov- 
able guide-posts  along  the  way  of  your  life.  Evil  Ex- 
amples, also,  as  friendship  deepens  in  degree  or  widens  in 
its  circle,  as  you  have  the  oftener  seen  with  the  eyes,  or 
trodden  in  the  steps,  or  yielded  to  the  persuasion  of 
others, — evil  examples  will  be  mightier  things  with  you. 
All  these  elements  of  difficulty  in  the  work  of  salvation, 
then,  gather  power  from  delay.  Of  these  chains  around 
the  soul,  the  links  grow  more  massive — the  rivets  are 
fastened  more  securely.  And  then,  the  Spirit  of  grace 
may  abandon  you!  And  then,  again,  life  maybe  sudden- 
ly cut  short  1  Oh,  there  is  desert  of  damnation,  there  may 
be  damnation,  in  the  purpose  not  to  strive  now  to  enter  in 
at  the  Strait  Gate.  If  you  form  that  purpose,  remember 
Christ's  words  :  "Many  shall  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall 
not  be  able,'''  Beware  lest  you  yourselves  stand  outcast 
and  condemned  among  that  number.  Beware  :  to-day  is 
given  for  striving;  to-morrow,  the  punishment  of  not  striv- 
ing may  fall  as  an  avalanche  of  terror  and  wrath  upon  you. 
Beware:  "  God  comes  with  leaden  feet,  but  strikes  with 
iron  hands"— comes  tardily  and  noiselessly — strikes  terri- 
bly and  crushingly.  Beware:  "the  mill  of  God  grinds  late, 
but  grinds  to  powder ! "  Beware :  the  voice  which  speaks 
from  heaven  says,  "Their  foot  shall  slide  in  due  time ;  for 
the  day  of  their  calamity  is  at  hand ;  and  the  things 
that  shall  come  upon  them  make  hasW  (Deut.  32;  35.) 
IV.  And  now,  it  remains  to  ask,  When  the  sinner, 
shrinking  from  such  a  doom ,  is  aroused  to  an  earnest, 
resolute, laborious  spirit  in  the   matter  of  salvation,  how 


12 

will  that  spirit  manifest  itself?  What  will  the  striver  do, 
to  effect  an  entrance  into  the  Strait  Gate  ? 

(1.)  An  earnest,  resolute,  laborious  spirit  in  the  matter 
of  salvation  will  lead  to  frequent  and  persevering  private 
devotion.  He  whose  eyes  are  opened  to  spiritual  things, 
and  whose  feelings  are  rightly  wrought  upon  by  them,  will 
find  out  some  place  of  retirement.  He  will  get  himself 
apart  from  man,  to  commune  in  solitude  with  the  God 
whom  he  seeks. — Prayer  will  be  his  work  there.  He  will 
cry  to  the  Strong  for  strength.  He  will  pour  his  fears 
and  hopes,  his  perplexities  and  desires,  his  confessions  of 
sin  and  supplications  for  pardon,  into  the  ears  of  the  Lord, 
struggling  against  unbelief,  entreating  the  gift  of  faith. — 
The  Bible  will  be  his  companion  there.  He  will  consult 
its  pages  for  guidance  in  the  way  of  life.  He  will  hear 
Christ  speaking  in  it.  He  will  search  it  for  the  answer  to 
the  question,  '•'  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  "  He  will 
lay  up  its  teachings  in  his  heart,  that  they  may  bring  him 
straight  to  the  cross. 

(2.)  That  spirit  will  lead  to  regular  attendance  on  the 
public  means  of  grace.  The  Lord's  day  will  not  dawn  un- 
welcomely  to  the  awakened  and  enquiring  sinner.  He 
will  be  prompt  and  punctual  in  going  up  to  the  courts  of 
the  Lord's  house.  And  he  will  have  for  the  exercises  of 
the  Lord's  worship  a  patient  and  respectful  heed.  As  often 
as  opportunity  allows,  he  will  wait  on  the  ministration  of 
the  word,  if  peradventure  there  may  be  in  it  a  special 
message  from  the  Lord  to  him.  His  will  not  be  a  vacant 
seat  at  church,  because  to  occupy  it  would  subject  him  to 
inconvenience.  Unless  necessity  constrains  him,  he  will 
not  be  simply  "a  Sunday  morning  hearer,"  as  too  many 
who  call  themselves  Christians  are.  He  will  arrange  his 
business  so  as  to  find' time  for  appearing  in  the  sanctuary, 
or,  if  this  cannot  be  done,  he  will  neglect  his  business  that 


13 

hjs  soul  may  be  saved.  He  will  do  these  things,  because 
the  great  majority  of  those  now  in  glory  have  been  met  by 
the  Lord  in  the  congregations  of  His  people.  Zion  has 
been  their  birth-place  ;  he  will  hasten  thither  if  haply  there 
he  too  maybe  born  from,  above,  of  the  Spirit.  He  will 
often  come,  lest  when  one  spark  of  truth  has  been  struck 
into  his  bosom,  it  should  be  extinguished  before  another, 
and  another,  and  another  have  been  added  to  it  to  kindle 
a  flame;  lest  when  the  means  of  grace  have  borne  him  one 
step  upward,  worldly  influences  should  beat  him  back  again, 
before  these  means  have  opportunity  to  bear  him,  step  by 
step,  on,  still  on,  toward  heaven. 

(3 .)  That  spirit  will  lead  to  religious  conference  with  Chris- 
tians. The  striver  after  God's  grace,  conscious  of  his  own 
ignorance,  will  desire  instruction  from  those  who  have  been 
made  partakers  of  that  grace."  Once,  shame  sealed  his 
lips,  and  he  was  far  from  all  willingness  to  unbosom  him- 
self to  believers.  But  now,  wishing  for  their  sympathy, 
he  struggles  against  this  snare  of  the  devil,  and  asks  those 
who  walk  the  path  of  life  to  reach  forth  a  helping  hand 
and  aid  his  approaches  to  Christ.  He  will  permit  warn- 
ing and  counsel  from'men  of  God;  he  will  seek  it.  Or,  if 
he  shrinks  from  conversation,  face  to  face,  he  will  call  his 
pen  into  use,  and  put  his  case  on  paper,  and  submit  his 
doubtings,  his  enquirings,  his  yearnings, .  to  such  as  he 
deems  able  to  bring  the  truth  out,  in  its  application  to 
himself.  He  will  not  forget  nor  dishonor  the  will  of  God, 
to  teach  those  who  would  be  His  people  by  means  of  those 
who  are. 

(4.)  That  spirit  will  lead  to  abstinence  from  worldly 
scenes  and  pleasures.  He  in  whom  this  spirit  dwells  will 
shun  the  things  that  are  calculated  to  impair  and  expel  it. 
He  will  turn  away  from  the  places  where  thoughtlessness, 
mirth  and  vanity  reign,  and  catch  like  running  flame  from 


14 

heart  to  heart,  and  scorch  and  wither  the  tender  germs  of 
penitence.  Songs,  dances  and  revellings  are  not  in  unison 
with  his  frame  of  mind  then ;  they  pall  on  his  taste  in 
mere  anticipation,  and  he  stands  aloof  from  them.  Alas 
for  him,  if  by  the  persuasion  of  others,  or  his  own  Unstead- 
fastness;  this  reluctance  is  overcome.  Alas, — it  may  cost 
him  his  soul !  A  sense  of  God's  wrath  had  fallen  on  Luther 
Rice — a  sense,  too,  of  his  own  sinfulness.  A  lady,  who 
knew  not  the  way  of  life,  advised  him  to  avoid  these  gloomy 
views  of  his  character  and  condition,  and  for  this  purpose, 
to  mingle  in  gay  society  and  share  its  gayeties.  Did  not 
her  counsel  proceed  on  this  principle — that  worldly  amuse- 
ments are  fitted  to  erase  serious  impressions  from  the  mind  ? 
And  are  not  amusements  adapted  to  so  fearful  an  office? 
Have  not  thousands  sought  them  with  no  other  aim?  and 
succeeded  to  put  out  the  kindlings  of  repentance  within 
them?  and  made  the  heart  that  was  softening,  hard  again — 
harder  than  ever  before?  and  gone  away  from  the  Saviour 
joyfully — to  find  him  never  after — never  in  time  or  in 
eternity?  Oh,  it  cannot  be  doubted:  they  are  expedients 
of  Satan  for  quenching  the  Spirit  inhuman  bosoms — potent 
expedients.  And  as  such,  the  sinner,  truly  alive  to  his 
guilt  and  his  danger,  will  fly  from  them;  must,  if  he  be 
not  resolved  to  throw  his  soul  away. 

(5)  That  spirit  will  lead  to  an  open  espousal  of  Christ's 
cause.  Genuine  and  absorbing  desire  for  eternal  life  will 
make  no  secret  of  itself.  The  work  of  repentance  and  faith 
will  not  be  done  in  a  corner.  Confession  of  sin  will  be  as 
open  as  sin  itself;  standing  on  God's  side,  as  public  as 
standing  among  aliens  and  enemies  to  Him.  He  is  but 
partially  awakened  who  strives  to  put  his  light  of  truth, 
as  it  were,  into  a  dark  lantern,  that  no  eye  but  his  own 
may  see  it;  that  it  may  shine  secretly  for  him,  and  no  one 
else  discern  it.     In  such  a  lantern  that  light  will  not  ehine 


15 

even  for  him;  it  will  go  out,  soon  or  later,  in  utter  mid- 
night. 

Are  you  willing,  dear  reader,  to  engage  in  this  work — 
the  work  for  which  man's  life  was  given — the  work  which 
draws  after  .-it  eternal  life?  Are  you  resolved  to  begin 
at  oncerthe  warfare  against  an  evil  nature,  evil  habits,  evil 
maxims,  evil  examples?  Then,  "be  of  good  courage." 
You  have  the  word  of  God  to  teach  you.  You  have  the 
blood  of  Christ  to  cleanse  you.  You  have  the  Spirit  of  ho- 
liness to  guide  and  strengthen  you.  Strive  hopefully, 
therefore,  relying  on  these,  for  the  grace  of  striving.  Strive 
to  get  to  the  cross,  as  a  penitent  for  sin  and  a  believer  in 
free  justification  from  sin.  Strive  to  ascend  from  the  cross 
along  the  pathway  of  childlike  obedienee,  to  the  kingdom 
and  crown  of  righteousness.  And  may  the  Saviour  of  the 
striver  grant  you  that  "salvation  which  is  in  Him,  with 
eternal  glory !" 

S.  M, 

*Tis  God  the  Spirit  leads 

In  paths  before  unknown : 
The  work  to  be  performed  is  ours, 

The  strength  is  all  His  own. 

Supported  by  His  grace, 

We  still  pursue  our  way,     - 
And  hope  at  last  to  reach  the  prize, 

Secure  in  endless  day. 

'Tis  He  that  works  to  will, 

'Tis  He  that  works  to  do  ; 
The  power  by  whioh  we  act  is  Hie, 

And  His  the  glory  too> 


16 

L.  M. 

My  gracious  Lord,,  I  own  thy  right 

To  every  service  I  can  pay, 
And  call  it  my  supreme  delight 

To  hear  thy  dictates  and  obey. 

What  is  my  being  but  for  thee — 
Its  sure  support,  its  noblest  end  ? 

'Tis  my  delight  thy  face  to  see, 
And  serve  the  cause  of  such  a  Friend. 

I  would  not  sigh  for  worldly  joy, 
Or  to  increase  my  worldly  good  : 

Nor  future  days  nor  powers  employ 
To  spread  a  sounding  name  abroad. 

'Tis  to  my  Saviour  I  would  live — 
To  Him  who  for  my  ransom  died; 

Nor  could  all  worldly  honor  give 
Such  bliss  as  crowns  me  at  His  side. 

His  work  my  hoary  age  shall  bless, 
When  youthful  vigor  is  no  more, 

And  my  last  hour  of  life  confess 
His  saving  love,  His  glorious  power. 


